Thome feels better, may hit in a pinch

But Sox slugger has yet to test his injured hamstring

August 26, 2006|BY DAVE VAN DYCK.

Although Jim Thome has yet to run since straining his left hamstring Wednesday, the injury had improved Friday to the point where White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen might use him to pinch-hit as soon as Saturday.

"I've gotten a lot of treatment, and it's coming along good," Thome said Friday. "I think that's how this works. You feel better every day."

As for pinch-hitting duty, Thome said: "I don't know. I would love to, but we'll see how it feels [Saturday]."

For the second straight night, Paul Konerko was the designated hitter, though Guillen said he might pass that duty around. Right fielder Jermaine Dye could get a "rest" as DH, and Ross Gload could DH, with Konerko going back to first base.

Konerko called DH duty "kind of like a half-day off. But it's not something I look for. DH-ing is tough to do, but when I've done it before when Jim's gone down, it's not the worst thing in the world for me."

Apparently not. Konerko hit a long, two-run homer in his first at-bat Friday.

Guillen pointed to the 10 runs scored Thursday against Detroit as proof that the Sox can win even without Thome's 91 RBIs.

"This isn't basketball, where if you have one good guy you can win," Guillen said. "Everybody just has to step it up a notch."

Said Dye: "It can't be that way in baseball. You can't have one guy do it. It has to be a team effort. If it was all about one guy, the other teams would not let him beat them.

"That's how we won [the World Series] last year: We had everyone contribute."

Baker backer

Guillen was sorry to hear about the racist mail Cubs manager Dusty Baker has received.

"It's a shame we're in 2006 and people are talking about that," Guillen said. "I don't think it's fair to [tie] the racist thing with sports. It's not proper to [mix] sports with race or different types of beliefs.

"I think Dusty Baker has done a tremendous job in this city. I know how people feel about him the last couple of months, the last couple of years. But people forget he has done a lot of good things for the city and the Cubs. Don't blame Dusty for what they are going through. It's not Dusty's fault."

Guillen said he doesn't read his mail but does look at his e-mail and occasionally gets nasty notes, though he did not characterize them as racist.

Extra innings

The consecutive sellout string at U.S. Cellular Field was snapped at 22 on Friday night. Still, the Sox are playing to nearly 90 percent capacity for the season and have sold 2.9 million tickets for the season. ... Jon Garland's 33 victories since the start of the 2005 season are tied for best in baseball with St. Louis' Chris Carpenter, who pitches Saturday against the Cubs. ... Minor-league knuckleballer Charlie Haeger is 2-0 with a 0.53 ERA in his last two starts. His 13 victories are tied with teammate Heath Phillips for the Triple-A International League lead.